Wednesday, 22 October 2014

With just days to go to Extra Life day on Saturday, the last push to get a few extra dollars for the charity is on.

As regular readers may know (and if you're my Facebook friend or Twitter follower, you've already been spammed to death) rather than the usual 24 hour gaming marathon, I've opted to shave my beard for the charity. Originally the plan was to shave my goatee but I decided to go all out and grow a full beard then lose the lot.

Ginger beards FTW

As it turns out, not only has this turned me into a pariah in the local community and my own household, not to mention the constant itching, the growing of the beard has turned out to be a greater hardship than shaving off my goatee, so honestly I can't wait until Saturday!

So, to make it all worth while, I need your help. A small donation will help and the charity supports the Miracle Children's Hospital Network, raising money to help sick kids. It doesn't need to be a regular donation. Even a one off $5 will be greatly appreciated and make my suffering this last couple of months worth while.

As an added incentive for my gamer friends, there are a couple of giveaways I've offered through Twitter. If you comment on this blog to say you've donated, I'll add you to the draws for...

Sunday, 31 August 2014

Today the PC has continued to frustrate And Lotro simply refuses to run smoothly even on low graphics settings. What I did try was to run Guild Wars 2 and amazingly it ran as smooth as anything. I suspect it might be unrelated to my overheating issues, and perhaps a recent patch is clashing with something. Eve seems to running reasonably ok but I was delighted to be able to play a fantasy game so Guild Wars saved the day.

I managed to rack up about four levels, more than I've done in the whole of last month and even obtained a new companion, I little piggy!

And so this is my last post for Blaugust, and although I came a little late to the party, I've enjoyed having a reason to post every day. I'll certainly be making a concerted effort to post often through September...(Bleptember, anyone?) and hope you'll continue to read.

Saturday, 30 August 2014

It's on somewhat of an anticlimax that Blaugust draws to an end as I'm barely gaming thanks to my PC that is now slowed to a crawl. I did manage to log into lotro and complete my Hytbold dailies. I've now got 5 out of the 6 armour pieces and I've unlocked the smithy to run dailies for compendiums (used to make relics for Legendary Items) so once I have my final piece, I'm done with Rohan, or at least the first section. I don't need to see Hytbold completed - I did it on Windfola already so I'll be wending my way to Wildemore and not a moment too soon..at level 88, everything is just a little bit too easy, even with the soup like lag.

On a brighter note, today we celebrated my nephew leaving for University and my upcoming birthday, with Big ole BBQ. We had some unseasonably good weather and afterwords the alcohol had flowed suffieciently that I was asked to fire up the Xbox for family favourite 'Lips'. This is the Xbox version of Playstations Singstar, a karaoke game with two wifi connected mics. My sisters in law love the game and after numerous attempts at Aha's 'take on Me' Mariah Carey's 'Touch my Body' and Destiny's Child 'Survivor', everyone went home happy.

Friday, 29 August 2014

Been a quiet few days, gaming wise. On top of the fan issues my PC has been reduced to a crawl by a bunch of spyware I managed to infect myself with. Things seem to be almost back to normal though I definately need to get the fan sorted out.

Got in a little LOTRO. Pinestro the warden has hit 88 and crafted his Second Age level 85 spear. I was almost not going to bother, as at the rate he's levelling he'll be looking for a 95 and then a 100 but according to Turbine, the legendary item grind is coming to an end as you'll be able to 'lock in' the item you have from100 onwards. The endless grind every ten levels is ridiculous currently so that will be a welcome change.

Also played a little Eve but nothing more than mining and training. I've established a trade between myself and my corporation for the sale of the Ice I'm mining, so hopefully the profits will start coming in soon ( as I'm down to a paltry 10 million Isk after buying and fitting a second Mackinaw.

Tuesday, 26 August 2014

A couple of days ago I wrote about about my history with gaming. One of the good friends I referred to, in fact the first person I corresponded with through PBMs and subsequently met years later, is Jason Johns and he or at least his son, is the subject of my post today.

On the 6th of March this year, Joshua was diagnosed with Pre B Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia. Since March Josh has been treated with seven different types of chemotherapy and has spent time in hospital on four different occasions with suspected infections. He has had a central line inserted into his chest and now has an ng tube in his nose which is used to feed him as his weight dropped drastically. The chemotherapy has affected his legs so he is unable to walk very far and has a wheelchair. It has also affected his hands and so he is also unable to write. Josh hasn't been able to attend school since he was diagnosed in March. At the end of the school term Josh was sent homework for the holidays which included writing a diary of what he did in the holidays and to send a postcard from his holiday. Unfortunately he is currently going through a particularly intensive block of treatment and so won't be able to go away on holiday this summer.

For this reason his folks have decided to make his summer homework a little bit different. They have bought a large World map and are asking everyone to send a postcard to Josh from wherever you are if you have the chance. They will then mark the areas he receives postcards from on the map and send this map into school with the postcards in September.

So if you're going away on holiday or even if you fancy sending a postcard from home please send to Joshua Johns at 2 Swansmoor Drive, Hixon, Staffordshire ST18 0FP.

If you want to see his progress, there is a Facebook group called Postcards For Josh.

Monday, 25 August 2014

So pretty much most of the weekend was spent In LOTRO, in the damn Treasure Hunt. Now I've been sucked into this occasional event on a number of occasions, each time testing my patience to its limit. The hope of a random drop of the Treasure Laden Goat or the grinding of tokens for a emote I'll never use.

So what attracted me to bang my pick into the ground over and over and race other hungry treasure hunters to berry bushes every fifteen minutes to earn a new pick (and risk being called 'rude' as I was on one occasion!)?

Cosmetic pets....

Turbine have finally release these to non-Loremasters and everyone is after one, and for a mere 300 treasure tokens, an ugly beast with a blade for a beak could be yours. So I did it...I dug and dug, and chased berry bushes using caffeine induced speed boosts, and I got 300 tokens. Now I'm the proud owner of a green beaked beastie that I'll probably summon a couple of times before I forget he's there.

Oh MMOs, you do like us to run round your little hamster wheel, don't you?

Sunday, 24 August 2014

The history of my love of fantasy gaming goes back to around 1982. My sister bought me a copy of basic Dungeons and Dragons. I'm not entirely sure she knew what it was and neither did I but a friend and I pored through the rules of that game and tried to figure out how to play it. He managed to roll characters and even run a few fights, but without any kind of mentor, our 11 year old brains couldn't get our head around the concept of role playing.

It was then this kids brother came on the scene. A good five years older, he got the concept straight away and began DMing basic adventures for us. We then got a grasp and brought others into the fold. The group grew, spread out and soon enough, we moved to Advanced D&D. That was the heyday of RPGs. Huge Monster Manuals with reams of creatures and hundreds of prepublished adventures at our fingertips.

At around the same time, I discovered Warhammer Battle, a mass combat tabletop game, and found other people who enjoyed that. Not long after, the Warhammer RPG came out, a favourite if mine and among other games Dragon Warriors, Rolemaster, Middle Earth Roleplaying, Paranoia, Judge Dredd, these became our bread and butter. Summers were spent morning til night running through games. I fell into the role of DM for most games, and he 80's flew by.

Toward the end of the decade, college began and I started playing games by post, Play by Mail or PBM games. Through that I met several friends, some of whom I'm still close with today and as I moved away from home and our gaming group disbanded, I turned to PBMs for my main source of entertainment. it wasn't long before I started to run my own games by email, incorporating some of the players from home, along with my new friends from other Postal games. Craig's PBeMs was born. Several years later, computers caught up and email took over from post as the form of communication for these games. Cheaper and more efficient, the pace stepped up and the amount of games I ran increased. At one point I was running 6 campaigns for various game systems. Craig's PBeMs became Knifesedge PBeMs and the name stuck as my handle for most internet dealings.

As work and families have grown, most games have come to an end. Currently, Knifesedge Games runs just one game, set in the 1920's Lovecraftian world and even that drags as players have less time to commit, but I still hold out hope. Computer games fill the gap that RPGs left behind and while I still not for those good old days, MMO's are a good second best.

Saturday, 23 August 2014

I didn't get up to much gaming today, the wife took the baby hobbit to the in laws so I got to do jobs around the house and garden I don't normally get done when they're around (much as I'd loved to have spent the whole day playing games!)

I did, however, get into LOTRO in the evening and ran Helms Dike with a kinnie. Now a lot of people have complained about the Epic Battles but ideally enjoy them. Yes, they're a challenge to solo and. Bit of time sink but they're fun if you know what to do. However, my recent experiences have started to cloud my love of the system.

I was informed by another kin mate that the catapults are bugged and can crash the instance, so I avoided using them (which happen to be my favourite part of the battles). Then today I found the Powder at the Gate side quest to be bugged. Having wiped out the opposition effectively, the instance ended before it registered our victory, thereby robbing us of valuable rewards.

I don't understand how these instances, that are working perfectly well for the most part, can now be so riddled with bugs. I really hope Turbine sort these out before launching any more!

Oh and another thing, if you are in the Treasure Hunt and rob a berry bush under another players nose, don't get all butthurt when said player uses a speed boost and beats you to the two next bushes. You had it coming!

Friday, 22 August 2014

I've not posted my activities for a couple of days because there's not been a great deal happening. In LOTRO, my warden Pinestro has finally started the rebuilding of Hytbold and acquired his first armour piece today. Also, the irregular event, the Treasure Hunt, has kicked off again, so I've been spending time there. All very Grindy.

On the positive side, I've installed one of the Humble Bundle games I've been sitting on, Mafia II and I love it. The narrative is engaging, the voice acting outstanding and the 40's soundtrack is incredible. Can't wait to get stuck into this one.

Things in Eve have moved ahead. I've now officially left my original Corporation and joined a new one under the wing of a new mentor I mentioned in a previous post. He has set my training on track to where it should be and given me more invaluable guidance, as well as giving a few million ISK worth of implants.

I'm also happy to announce that I've received my first couple of sponsors for my beard shaving in October. Thanks again to those generous people, and if you too would like to support the Extra Life charity, there's a link in th side bar.

Thursday, 21 August 2014

Thanks to Jasyla over at Cannot Be Tamed who has posted a series of questions and asked people to blog the answers, so for today's post, here goes...

When did you start playing video games?1979

What is the first game you remember playing?Space Invaders. I remember a local cafe got a machine in and it was literally, out of this world. The feeling of excitement of just watching people play, let alone playing it yourself, still stays with me. I was only 8 years old.

PC or Console? Both but right now PC is my gaming machine of choice.

XBox, PlayStation, or Wii? I own both XBox and Playstation 3, but right now my preference is for PS. Never played a Wii.

What’s the best game you’ve ever played? A tough question, as right now I play some games that are my favourites right now, but the one game that I still hanker to play is the arcade version of Kung Fu Master. We had a fairground that visited our area during Easter and Summer holidays and they had this machine, which I completed over and over. In the process of researching this article, I actually discovered an emulator online so I know what I'm doing after I post this.

What’s the worst game you’ve ever played? I don't remember a game I didn't like, though one MMO that I tried once and have no love for at all, is World of Warcraft.Name a game that was popular/critically adored that you just didn’t like.World of Warcraft

Name a game that was poorly received that you really like.When Neverwinter was first released it got a bad rap, at least from some people who's opinions I value but I loved it and still do.

What are your favourite game genres?Fantasy RPG's, Wargame Simulations

Who is your favourite game protagonist?Thomas, the Kung Fu Master!Describe your perfect video game.Good immersive story, graphics that take my breath away and something challenging but not to the point I rage quit.

What video game character do have you have a crush on?Lara Croft - an affair I've engaged in since 1996, but she has no idea :(

What game has the best music? I love the early music on Lord of the Rings Online but another arcade game that I used to love, was 1983's Gyruss and the music for it was Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. I still love that piece of music and all thanks to that game.

Most memorable moment in a game:Running Draigoch in LOTRO for the first time. As I'm not a regular raider, this was my first experience of a successfully run, on level raid and the feeling of excitement while doing I still remember well.

Scariest moment in a game:Seeing Draigoch for the first time. I'd been warned he was big, but running down while he was breathing fire was very scary!

Most heart-wrenching moment in a game:The end of Batman: Arkham City (no spoilers!)

Tuesday, 19 August 2014

Something happened to me today in Eve Online that I felt might make an interesting post. Eve is notorious for its unforgiving community, people that would rather rip you off or blow you out of the sky rather than give you a helping hand, but I'm here today to tell you that is not the whole picture.
Today, I learnt more and was offered more generosity than I've had in my almost 6 months in the game, all thanks to one fellow gamer who just loves to give back. Not only did he advise me on a new fit for my mission running ship, but he taught me about Jump Clones, Augmentations and even offered me a ship I've not yet been able to afford to buy.

Now I've been veteran of LOTRO for 5 years and when I first started, I got similar help. The community was such, back then at least, that more experienced players were willing to offer tips and guide new players through their first steps and beyond. In return, as years passed, I did the same. I've helped countless people through the Legendary Item system, taught complete newbies how to tank or heal and crafted more suits of armour and weapons than I care to count. Last year, I rolled characters on a second server, Landroval, where I acted as mentor for a ton of new players as part of the Coursera course on MMO's. I still play with that group and I see the ones I taught passing on the knowledge to newcomers, paying it forward.

This, to me, is what makes an MMO so special. You can teach someone to play a game, as I might teach my daughter to play Snakes and Ladders (as I did last week) and have in impact on their memory of the game. I was surprised to find it in Eve, given the reputation, thought we should all remember, we're all human behind our keyboards, after all.

Monday, 18 August 2014

Well after some fiddling about with the innards of my Alienware, I managed to get it to boot. The fan still sounds like a 747 taking off, but having builders working both next door and opposite my house, you can barely tell!

So between working, I managed to get into a couple of games.

Much of the day has been Eve Online. I am starting to love the game more and more, as I uncover even more complexities within. My main, Aeldritch Marstoldt is an industrialist, mainly mining ore and ice. I recently obtained a new mining vessel, known as a Mackinaw. Pretty powerful beast and after the hefty initial investment, it's paying off, so much of today has been playing with him.

One of my alts, David Lystre, is a specialist salvager, based on the outskirts of space, null sec. He's a very new character, so he's a tiny fish in a massive pond of sharks, but he manages to survive. His speciality is lurking around PvP areas and salvaging things quickly. Today I got him trained in high speed manoeuvres and cloaking, so that will aid him greatly.

In addition to Eve, I made a brief return the Guild Wars 2. I've not played in a couple of weeks, but I decided to roll a new character today, for some reason, a Charr Thief. Didn't get much time to play him, but I enjoyed what I saw. I don't get have a cap toon in GW2 so I still have so much to experience and in enjoying taking it slowly.

Sunday, 17 August 2014

Blaugust day 2 for me (day 17 for everyone else!) and the PC is still dead. Rather than trying to play Eve on the superslow laptop, I dusted off the PS3 today and dug into a couple of games I haven't played in some time.

First up, GTA V. I love this game, but access to the family TV is a rarity, so in the several months I've had the game, I've still not finished the offline story and have hardly played online either. Loaded up Trevor, one of the offline characters, to find him waking up in the middle of the desert in a nightgown, "If I find the deer that pissed on me," he growls, "I'll eat his liver." This game never fails to amuse.

After blasting through a couple of fun missions, I loaded my level 12 Online character. There have been a ton of updates since I last played, though I'm probably not advanced enough to notice the changes. Seems no-one else was in my session, so couldn't run any group missions, but did a few parachute missions, which I've never seen before. Great fun!

Finally I fired up Call of Duty - Black Ops 2. I've barely played this but have been through most of the previous games. I used to love them, especially those based in WW II, but the games seem to just be more of the same. I'm not great at FPS games, so I tend to just run through and hope for the best until I finish them.

Saturday, 16 August 2014

Ok so I came a little late to the party, fashionably late obviously. I just heard about Blaugust from the wonderful Contains Moderate Peril (if you love games, you should really check it out) and so I thought I should embark on an attempt to blog every day for the rest of the month.

Now call it serendipity or fate, but just as I was considering this today, my Alienware gaming machine gave up the ghost. It's been making a racket of late, fans blasting full on, apparently a common problem with my model and as I'm unable to get it fixed any time soon, I've hooked my wife's laptop to my monitor in the hope I might have the chance go play something. I installed Eve and it runs like a hippo through mud. Needless to say, I am not happy. No LOTRO for a while, and probably no Eve aside from maybe adding skills to my queue.

ah we'll, gives me time to blog from my iPad doesn't it?!

Here's to payday at the end of the month! Hope you join me for my cold turkey away from gaming.

Tuesday, 10 June 2014

Last year I joined a course via Coursera, Online Games: Literature, New Media, and Narrative run by Jay Clayton of the Vanderbilt University.

It covered a range of topics related to the "remediation" of literature into other forms of media, notably gaming, and this ties with the courses connection to Lord of the Rings Online. Through the course, I joined Landroval, a second permanent server for me, and made some great friends.

The course is due to run again for 2014 and if you have any interest in trying an MMO or learning more about the subject, I can't recommend it enough. It starts on 14th June and runs for 7 weeks. It is free and of course, LOTRO is a free to play game, so it's not going to cost a penny.

If you want to sign up, join us on Landroval. We have a Kinship, a guild, dedicated to course members called the Courserrim. Leave a comment or drop me a line @jestrosneak on Twitter if you need an invite.

Wednesday, 26 March 2014

A couple of years ago, I tried out the 14 day trial to Eve Online. I remember enjoying the experience but after the 14 day period I just dropped away.

Last week, after hearing a discussion on the game on the excellent Contains Moderate Peril Podcast, I was tempted to give it another go. I rolled a new character and started the training again from scratch. Such is the complexity of the game, even the tutorials, it didn't come flooding back so I trawled through it, itching to get into the game proper.

5 days in and I'm hooked. I can't speak highly enough about how well the game holds together even after ten years. There are many reasons why this game has enjoyed the longevity it has and will continue to have. The world is rich, the graphics and sound excellent and there are so many choices of style of play you can never get bored. It reminds me of my early days in my first mmo, where I didn't see the mechanics and just enjoyed the game, something no other mmo has been able to capture for me since.

If you haven't given the game a go, please do. It's not for everyone, but if you want a complex and frankly unforgiving game experience, something you can throw yourself into and not hit cap in a few days, this may just be for you!